Eye hand coordination is a skill that is useful in a myriad of human occupations and pastimes. The tossing of darts or game pieces towards a target surface or object, such as a flat surface, a wall or a vertical post may help develop eye-hand coordination as well as provide entertainment value. Some examples of such games include darts, washers, and bean-bag toss.
Given the dangers involved in throwing sharpened objects, such as a dart, safety restrictions may limit the demographic appeal of some games to individuals with good dexterity, as well as limit the environment in which the game can be safely played. Accordingly, oftentimes youth and those with physical limitations, such as elderly or handicapped players are excluded from the game. Safety concerns are magnified when alcohol is available to the players or spectators. For these and other considerations, a number of games have been developed which involve magnetically charged game pieces that adhere against a surface that is magnetically attractive to the game pieces.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,605, entitled “Magnetic Toss Game” discloses a toss game where the planer target surface simulates known sports goals and magnetized playing pieces simulate known paraphernalia, such as balls, pucks, golf balls, footballs, basketballs, and soccer balls. In use, a user throws the playing pieces at a target in an attempt to adhere magnetized playing pieces to a generally planer target surface. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0001879, entitled “Method and System of Magnetic Toss Gaming” discloses a similar two-dimensional magnetically attractive planar target surface in which a substantively flat magnetically charged disc are tossed.
Although the above-mentioned inventions overcome the limitations of games involving the throwing of sharpened objects, they are limited in that the target is two-dimensional or planar, instead of three-dimensional or shaped. If a target could be three-dimensional or shaped it could offer an increased challenge to players of the game, as with a three-dimensional or shaped target, certain regions of the target board could be harder to adhere to a magnetized game piece than others. Similarly, with a target of only two-dimensions, subtleties of the playing piece landing orientation are not part of the game. Lack of a three-dimensional target also limits the game from being played from a variety of angles.
The above-mentioned inventions are also limited in that the playing pieces are magnetized. Requiring the playing pieces to be magnetized adds to the overall cost of the game, as well as reducing the interchangeability of the playing pieces. For example, if the relatively small playing pieces are lost, the game could be rendered unusable if a playing piece of similar weight, size and magnetic force is not located.
The above-mentioned inventions also lack a means of catching the playing pieces if they fail to adhere to the target. Because of this noted absence, if a user throws a playing piece at the target and it misses or bounces off the target, the user will be forced to keep track of where the playing piece landed for later retrieval. Because the playing pieces can be relatively small in size, there is an increased chance that the pieces can be lost without a means of catching the pieces.
Accordingly, there is a need for a game that has a three-dimensional target, which does not require throwing sharpened or magnetized playing pieces, and has a means to catch playing pieces that are thrown, but fail to adhere to the target.